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Living Tech-wise Lives by Faith

Head photo of Catherine CrouchA 90 minute Webinar for Christian Faculty and Graduate Students

February 1, 2019, 9:30-11:30am (9am for coffee, snacks, and conversation at our OSU campus site)

On Saturday, February 1 we will host a webinar for faculty & grad students and others. We will gather online with people from around the world – with our speaker originating from Swarthmore, PA. Our presenter, who starts at 9:30am, for this event is Dr. Catherine Crouch who together with her husband, Andy Crouch, have lived out their callings in the academy and at home. Dr. Crouch is professor of Physics with a focus on membrane interactions, nanoparticle physics, and physics education. Her husband Andy’s recent book, The Tech-Wise Family: Everyday Steps for Putting Technology in Its Proper Place, touches on some of the themes she will explore in this ninety minute webinar as she shares practices they have used in their family and their work. This webinar will both challenge and encourage you in your own walk with God.

There are two options for participating.

  1. We are gathering on campus and invite you to join us for coffee, snacks, and conversation at 9am in room 269 Arps Hall. Parking is available in the Arps Garage. Enter via the exterior stairs on the northwest end of Arps Hall. The second floor door will be open. Registration is not required but an email to Howard helps with planning and lets us let you know of any updates.
  2. Or you may view the webinar on your own device. You must register for this webinar in advance if you want to view it online. Register Here.
For further information contact,
Howard Van Cleave
Webinar Coordinator, Ohio Valley IVCF-GFM
In partnership with:

Spiritual Formation and the Workplace

Steven Garber photoA 1-Hour Webinar for Christian Faculty and Graduate Students

Nov 14, 2019, 12-1pm

Work will occupy most of our academic life. Amid the mundane and hectic, it’s too easy to become disconnected from God and his work in the world. In partnership with InterVarsity-USA, Dr. Steve Garber, Professor of Marketplace Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, Canada, will discuss on Thursday, 14 November 2019 at 1200 EST what it means to be called of God to our work in the academy by exploring the practices that shape our faith on campus.
For further information contact,
Howard Van Cleave
Webinar Coordinator, Ohio Valley IVCF-GFM
In partnership with:

ESN Conversation: Andy Le Peau on Writing Better for Academics

September 26, Noon

The Emerging Scholars Network is launching a new occasional online event series called ESN Conversations. For the first event, Andy Le Peau distills 40 years of editing experience into one conversation. Join us to learn great tips for academic writing from the emeritus associate publisher for editorial at InterVarsity Press, including how to overcome writer’s block.

We are hosting a watch group at Arps Hall in room 239. Come join us. RSVP to Paul Post.

If you can’t attend but want to watch online – RSVP to bob.trube[at]intervarsity.org to receive a conference call link for this event.

Bob Trube reviewed Andy Le Peau’s related book, Write Better, on his blog.

Lunch with a Higher Purpose, Thursday, April 4

There is not a recording available for this event but the Emerging Scholars Blog has a posting providing highlights and links to related materials.

The final Lunch with a Higher Purpose for this academic year with Dr. Francis Su was co-sponsored by the Society of Christian Scholars on Thursday, April 4, 2019 at Noon (EST).

Dr. Su is uniquely qualified to address our topic, Living out Academic Calling while Serving God on Campus. Dr. Su will address the tensions and triumphs of a life of faith and define the meaning of success for the professor called by God to the academic life.

Brief BioHead and shoulders photo of Dr. Francis Su

Francis Edward Su is the Benediktsson-Karwa Professor of Mathematics at Harvey Mudd College, and past president of the Mathematical Association of America. He received his B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Texas at Austin and his Ph.D. from Harvard University. His research is in geometric combinatorics and applications to the social sciences and he has co-authored numerous papers with undergraduates.

Saturday Symposium: Prayer and the Academic Calling

Saturday, February 2 from 9am – 11:30am EST
273 Arps Hall

Recordings of the Symposium are available at the InterVarsity Graduate and Faculty Ministries page for the symposium.

We also have local recordings of the symposium that are missing the first few minutes but add and extended Q&A session with Dr. Smith that occurred after the recordings above ended.

Video Recording of the Symposium

Audio Only Recording of the Symposium

Hosted by the Ohio Valley Grad & Faculty ministry of Intervarsity Christian Fellowship in partnership with the Society of Christian Scholars & Global Scholars https://www.global-scholars.org

Presenter: Dr. Gordon Smith is the president of Ambrose Photo of Gordon T. SmithUniversity. He teaches systematic theology and spiritual theology and is the author of many books, including Courage and Calling, Called to be Saints, Spiritual Direction, The Voice of Jesus, and Teach us to Pray.

“The assumption that there is another sphere of reality beyond what we fan see and touch and taste and hear seems manifestly a contradiction to the dominant social, political, and cultural context in which we are being called to live out our Christian faith…..We live in societies and communities where the Christian voice is no longer privileged: religious identity and values are consistently discounted.

…What does it mean to pray when the kingdoms of this world are front and center?….What does it mean to pray when materialism – the assumption that the only reality is that which you can taste an touch and see/hear – is in the very air that we breathe? [An excerpt from, Teach us to Pray, published this year by IVPress,Pg. 20.]Cover of the book Teach Us To Pray

Dr. Smith addresses these questions and more with the wisdom of the ages and from living out his faith in the academic arena. Don’t miss this opportunity to be with him on this live zoom event on February 2, Saturday from 9am – 11:30am EST. The symposium will be a live webcast format with campuses participating across the Midwest, the country & world in partnership with the Society of Christian Scholars.

In addition to being the president of Ambrose University and Seminary in Calgary, Alberta, where he also serves as Professor of Systematic and Spiritual Theology, he is also a Teaching Fellow at Regent College, Vancouver, BC. He is married to Joella and they have two adult sons – married and with children of their own.

At OSU we will gathered to participate in this online symposium in Arps Hall. For more details contact Howard Van Cleave. Howard.van-cleave@intervarsity.org.

Wednesday Book Group Selects Spring Semester Book

The Wednesday morning book group called the Dead Theologians Society will be reading Eugene Peterson’s Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places. This is the first title in his spiritual theology series. “The single most important thing to understand in spiritual theology is that it is not about theology… it is a cultivated disposition to live theology.” Peterson’s great skills as a pastor an d as a writer combine to lead us to more deeply live our faith.

We meet at the Panera on Lane Avenue across from St. Johns’s Arena starting at 7:45 AM. We read roughly 30 pages a week for the weekly discussion. On January 16 Paul will provide a background on Eugene Peterson’s life and Bill will have a list of weekly readings. If you have questions contact Paul Post.

Come join us!

CGSA/FCFS Host Annual Christmas Carol Sing Dec. 10

The Christian Graduate Student Alliance and the Fellowship of Drawing of carolers singing under a street light with snow falling.Christian Faculty and Staff  are presenting the Annual Christmas Carol Sing on Monday, December 10 at noon in the Ohio Staters, Inc. Founders Room on the second floor of the Ohio Union. We will gather for a time of fellowship and optional lunch (can be purchased on your own beforehand at the Union Market downstairs). The sing along with musicians from CGSA will start at 12:30pm.

Carol Sing RSVP

Lunch with a Purpose

Held Thursday, November 1, 2018, at noon (EST) for Lunch with a Purpose featured Kathy Tuan-MacLean, PhD, National Director of Faculty Ministry, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA.

Kathy shared insights she has gained from her work withPhoto of faculty gathered at a lunch. faculty and graduate students at Harvard over the past decade and her vision, hopes, and the opportunities she sees for faculty across the country in the years to come. In addition to presenting the Four Loves of Academic Life, Kathy will explore aspects of prayer and the connections of prayer to the academic life.

Recordings of this live, interactive, online event are available.
Video recording
Audio only recording
Kathy Tuan-MacLean’s slides
Howard Van Cleave’s resources slides

Kathy has served with InterVarsity for over 25 years, and in 2017 became the National Director for InterVarsity’s Faculty Ministry. She also spearheads the Boston Faculty Fellowship (BFF). Kathy earned her PhD from Northwestern University in Human Development and Social Policy. She is married to Scott MacLean and they have three children.

If you have questions about the event contact to Howard Van Cleave at howard.van-cleave@intervarsity.org.

Hosted by the Ohio Valley GFM Team, Howard Van Cleave, Special Event Coordinator

The Lamp Post

Welcome to The Lamp Post—a newsletter from InterVarsity’s Faculty Ministry. In November 2016, we relit what we believe is an important resource for faculty, trusting it will engage, inform, and encourage you.

As the name implies, The Lamp Post is about bringing light, helping us to grow in our understanding of God in the face of Christ (II Cor. 4:5-9). May you find encouragement from the articles linked below. Each issue features pieces we recommend from Graduate & Faculty Ministries, The Well, and the Emerging Scholars Network related to spiritual formation, integration of faith and work, and other relevant resources.

Please consider subscribing to The Lamp Post so that you will receive future editions of the Faculty Newsletter delivered directly to your Inbox.

I am grateful for your service to God on campus.

Sincerely,
Debra Block Clark
Interim Faculty Ministry Director

Link to past articles from The Lamp Post.

What Has Christianity Ever Done For Us?

This book is available as gift for new faculty and for anyone who requests the book before October 31, while supplies last.

Contact Howard VanCleave to receive a copy.

From the cover

What has Christianity ever done for us? What value is there in seeking to preserve its influence today? In this book, Jonathan Hill answers these questions with some questions of his own. For instance, why do we seal wine bottles with cork? Where did musical notation come from? How did universities get their start? And why was the world’s first fully literate society not in Europe, Asia or North America? As Hill tells the story of the centuries-long entanglement between Christianity and Western culture, he shows the profound influence that Christianity has had–from what we drink to how we speak, from how we write to how we mark the seasons. Employing a rich, narrative style packed with events and people and illustrated throughout in full color, he describes the place of Christianity both in history and in the present day. What Has Christianity Ever Done for Us? is an enlightening and often humorous tour of culture and thought, the arts, the landscape, education, society, spirituality and ethics, and social justice. Here is a rich, entertaining and informative read.

Goodreads reviews